shockable rhythm

shockable rhythm

In emergency cardiac care, any of the following cardiac rhythm disturbances: ventricular fibrillation, pulseless ventricular tachycardia or some poorly tolerated supraventricular tachycardias, e.g., some instances of rapid atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, or AV nodal re-entrant tachycardia. By contrast, asystole, pulseless electrical activity, heart blocks, and the bradycardias are not shockable. Defibrillation or cardioversion of these latter rhythms may result in injury to the patient.

If the evidence supports an argument that the victim's physical symptoms were consistent with a shockable rhythm only after or shortly before paramedics arrived, the defense will claim that something the paramedics did or didn't do--not the health club staff's failure to use defibrillation--led to the victim's injury or death.

The biggest trial so far, the TTM trial, showed no difference between therapeutic hypothermia and normothermia in cardiac arrest patients with an initial either shockable rhythm or non-shockable rhythm.

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